The Malabar rebellion of 1921 was one of the most significant struggles waged by the natives against the British after the 1857 uprising, Assembly Speaker M.B. Rajesh has said.
Opening an academic conference on the rebellion here on Sunday, he said that K. Madhavan Nair, a Congress leader, and Mozhikunnath Brahmadathan Namboodirippad, Khilafat activist, had recorded this. The conference was organised by the Sunni Yuvajana Sangham.
In his book on the Khilafath agitation, Namboodirippad had claimed that political reasons and police atrocities, not religious hatred, had led to the Malabar rebellion. Some vested interests might have intruded into that battle against imperialism and feudalism to give it a communal colour. However, to paint the whole incident with a communal brush was the handiwork of the British and the feudal lords, who supported them.
Some violence might have taken place during the non-violent agitation led by Mahatma Gandhi. Does that mean Gandhiji was responsible for the violence, he asked.
The charge against Ali Musliyar and Variyamkunnath Kunhammed Haji was that they acted against the British. How can then their struggle not be termed anti-British, Mr. Rajesh wondered.
